Broom looks at the backpack. "Our backpack is pretty nice, but this backpack is very nice. Think of all the stuff we could carry around! Extra clothing for everyone, plenty of soap. Lots of rope and extra oil for the lantern. All the food we would need for a week!"
She keeps eyeing it "May We carry the backpack if nobody else wants to take it? We can carry all the stuff nobody else wants to carry."
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"Ooo, hey, that's pretty nice, Broom. Kind of handy if you will," he says with a wry smirk.
"I'll carry this lantern for now and I'll hang on to the healing potion." Cage tells the others.
Laura/Rope stares briefly at the items before them, then slowly takes the surgeon's tools and the enchanted dagger, carefully cleaning her blood off of the latter before stowing them both in her pack.
Miniel is drawn to the phylactery. She grasps it for a minute, reading its divine power, but in the end decides not to put it on, instead stowing it away in her pack.
"We should head back and tell the others that this area is cleared. I'm sure they'll welcome the good news."
"It even has the name of the crafter sewn into the strap. Heward I think it says."
"Good idea. We can regroup and figure out where we should investigate next." Cage answers the elf.
Laura/Rope nods accommodatingly, and follows the others back to the temple. She seems deep in thought, like she is compartmentalizing the experience.
"Broom," she says suddenly. "You say 'we'. Who is 'we'?"
With combat over for now, the Hag dissolves and retreats back into Harrow's body. A moment of dual-voiced hacking and Harrow seems once again "whole".
Cage will lead the others back to the temple to report that this wing seems to be cleared of the shapeshifters.
"I wouldn't drop my guard, but I don't think you'll have as many problems now. There are a lot of bodies laying about, so disease will become an issue if we don't find a way to end these problems and get out of here."
"It may not be the 'best' solution, but we could always take the bodies back to the incinerator."
Broom smiles at Rope and says "We are Broom" matter of factly.
Seeing that the answer doesn't seem to satisfy Rope, Broom knits her brow and purses her lips as she thinks really hard about how to answer the question. "We aren't like Harrow who is Harrow and Hag, right? And We aren't like Pouch, who is just Pouch. There is part of us that knows things. Lots of interesting and terrible things, and there is part of us that feels things, happy and terrified things. But We aren't anything apart, We are just Broom."
The group returns to where the survivors are gathered.
The survivors are in better spirits after learning that you've cleared out an entire wing and taken care of the doppelganger threat. After learning that the wing is collapsed and basically a dead end, Winter's reaction is mixed.
"That’s disappointing, but not a complete surprise. I suppose at least we can make use of those areas, so the chapel isn't so crowded. There must be some way to get out of here, though. Maybe Doctor Losandro’s still alive out there and knows what’s caused all of this. Her office is at the very heart of the asylum. That’s a good place to start. She might even able to tell you who you are. If the worst has befallen her, though, perhaps there are other survivors out there. If you find any, bring them back here and we’ll shelter them as best we can. Goddess watch over you."
Airwynn Savoia, the woman whose broke leg Xander had healed, approaches, and explains that they can now use the laundry room to get cleaned up, and get fresh water as it is supplied by wells. She knows how to operate the boiler, which has to be turned on for the washbasins to fill. She also knows how to operate the furnace.
Vaustin York and some of the guards assist the group in bringing the bodies down to the furnace where they are disposed of, a grueling and exhausting process. By the time this grisly job is finished, Savoia has got the boilers up and running and cleaned out the laundry room. The laundry tubs make decent, makeshift baths after the laundry water has been allowed to cool a bit, and everyone is able to get clean before getting a good night's rest in the dreamless chapel.
The next day the adventurers set out again to explore the asylum, this time going through the door that had been just past the argus eye.
White tile, spider-webbed with cracks, lines the walls of this cathedral-like hall. A prominent, oval desk faces staunch double doors, while hard benches and portraits of somber doctors line the walls. Regal stairs ascend toward a second floor, but rubble has crushed the upper flights, blocking passage. Lofty windows, gridded by bars, reveal yellow mist seething just beyond.
Cage moves up and searches the desk.
After a bath and a good rest, Xander feels like a new man. He quickly returns to reality (such as it is) when he opens his eyes and realizes he's still in a nightmare.
As they ready to foray back into the bowels of the asylum, he asks Winter if she can describe the way to Losandro's office (and asks for a description of her as well).
Upon reaching the desk and pictures, he sees that Cage is inspecting the desk, so he moves to the portraits to take a look at who is represented.
Harrow refuses to fully bathe, merely pouring a bucket of water over his head and splashing his face with cold water. Under his poncho and shirt he is revealed to be half-starved and not used to exercise. Bug bites and a few old scars pepper his skin, all of which he scratches absently as he lets the water dry on his exposed skin.
Accompanying the others towards the office, Harrow wanders closer to the collapsed staircase and picks around in the rubble.
Laura/Rope retreats inward after Broom's attempt to explain their plurality. She doesn't seem upset or confused, just accepting what she said with a matter-of-fact expression.
She tries to bathe in private, at least choosing a tub as far away as possible. She slowly scrubs her skin and washes her hair. As she cleans her distended belly, tears begin to trickle down her cheeks. She appears puzzled by this, washing her face again before getting out and self-consciously covering herself with towels.
While Cage searches the desk, Laura/Rope idly moves closer to the stairs and watches Harrow examine the rubble, chipping in a curt word or two as it seems appropriate.
As she initially helped move the corpses down to the incinerator, she made macabre observations in a cheerful tone on the quality of the work done on dismembering some of the dopplegangers. She seemed to have just enough tact not to mention the human remains, but was oblivious beyond that. When an objection to the subject was raised she made a sincere offer to put everything back together again if they wanted to give her enough time before falling silent.
Surprising nobody, Broom is very happy helping get the tubs running and starts washing anything that needs to be washed. However the particularly observant would notice that as the water gets higher within the massive basins, she occasionally just stops in the middle of whatever she was washing and peers into the tub for no apparent reason.
She doesn't take a bath herself, favouring using her spell to quickly clean herself up.
The next day sees her preparing breakfast. Despite the limited supplies she tried to slip Harrow a second helping after having caught a glimpse of his emaciated figure.
Just before the group heads out Broom plays with the pack, filling it with random debris and stuff to see how much it would actually hold before emptying it out again and filling it with more useful items. While doing so she discovers that no matter how she packs it, whatever she wants always seems to be on top.
She offers to carry anything anyone else doesn't want to be burdened with.
In the entrance, she is taken by all the old portraits of the doctors. She examines the paintings until she sees Cage looking through the desk. She wanders over to try and help.
After helping with the corpses, Miniel bathes along with the rest, losing herself in the comfort of the water for a bit. Still, something feels a bit off - like she has something inside of her that needs an outlet to escape. She can't figure it out, though, so she heads to rest with the other survivors in the chapel.
The next morning, when she's doing her daily rituals, Miniel feels a string pulse of energy from somewhere within the chapel. Searching around a bit, she's able to find the source, a small leaflet - and when she opens it, she can't believe her eyes. The temple may be consecrated to Pharasma, but this text is dedicated to none other than the Dawnflower. With a smile, the elf pours all her remaining magical power into this new discovery, and that strange feeling she's been having since the end of the previous day lifts entirely.
In the new wing, Miniel looks around, noting the whereabouts of the features of the room. Digging out her new artifact from her pack, she says a few words, letting the power of the text flow into her and sharpen her senses. Then, she goes through to all the doors leading out of the room and listens for any sign of movement beyond.
Xander remembers the explanation Winter gave as they left the chapel, "Once you get into the admission hall by the front doors, take a left and pass through the library, and straight down the hall to the administrator's office, as I recall."
John and Mashiki search the desk, but find nothing of interest.
Inspecting the rubble, Alico and Laura realize that the collapse was likely caused by the earthquake that Winter mentioned. Furthermore, any attempts to clear it would likely result in a further collapse.
The portraits on the wall seem to represent past and present administrators of the Briarstone Asylum. The most recent is a woman: Doctor Eliege Losandro. She is a tall woman with dark skin and curly black hair, wearing long black robes.
"Is that the lady that might have the answers?" Cage asks when he see's the others examining Losandro's portrait.
He moves over to the doors in the east wall and checks for trouble.
John doesn't hear anything at the doors to what you assume is the library.
Xander would normally assume a library door isn't trapped, but these are unusual circumstances, so he checks the door just in case.
Xander throws open the double doors to the library.
Sagging shelves, held together by dust and an extensive system of rolling ladders, ring this library of husky, dull-looking tomes. At the room’s center broods a heavily worn table surrounded by uncomfortable chairs. A chandelier of iron vines dangles above. The scents of leather and old paper pervade the high-ceilinged space, but so does a distinct bestial musk.
You notice immediately that several of the lower shelves have had their contents scattered across the floor.
However, as soon as you open the door, you hear voices shrieking and chittering in a strange tongue. Atop the bookshelves are five strange, ratlike creatures with tiny human hands in place of their front paws, and unnerving human faces with a toothy little mouths.
"ACK, more humanoids here to steal our precious books, and ruin our search for scrolls."
"They'll skin us alive and make soup from our bones."
"Or at least that's what we'd do to them."
"We must drive them away!"
"Bombardiers: ready the boring tomes!"
You see the little creatures picking up large books to throw at you.
Beyond the texts, four rolling ladders span the 8-foot-tall bookshelves here—one for each of the four contiguous sets of shelves. The ladders are attached to the shelf frames and roll easily along steel tracks.
Round One Laura (up), Mashiki (up), Alico (up), John (up), Ratlings (not yet up), Miniel (not yet up), Xander (not yet up)
"Rats!" Cage exclaims.
Not wanting to climb up the shelves to fight the things, John unslings him shortbow and fires at one of the rats, but he slips on a scrap of paper and the arrow goes wide.
Thinking to lure the rats out, Laura/Rope lumbers slowly into the room, moving forty feet to the middle of the west side of the room.
Harrow huffs, drawing his sickle and climbing up the shelves.
Harrow's fingers wiggle like worms and the feminine voice cackles out an eerie verse.
Broom’s eyes are immediately drawn to the mess of torn papers at the bottom of the bookshelf before the voices at the top draw her gaze upwards.
Broom’s memories only went back as far as the last couple of days, but these creepy little things were already dredging up memories of the disastrous encounter with the giant rats from just a couple of days ago.
Seeing the strange critters heft the large tombs to hurl at them, Broom mutters the words that manifest the dark mists that shroud her for a moment before fading away leaving an invisible suit of protective force.
Xander gets to the foot of the nearest ladder and targets the nearest ratling with a spell, and the creature gets a look of panic on its face.
The ratling is a hideous amalgamation of rat and human: a long-haired, rodent-like magical beast with front paws that are more accurately called hands, and a face reminiscent of a leering old man. Within the ratling’s humanoid mouth can be found long, yellow incisors more akin to those one might find in the jaws of a rat. These teeth are remarkably sharp, and when combined with the blood-thinning qualities in the ratling’s saliva, are capable of inflicting particularly dangerous, bleeding wounds. A ratling is just over 2 feet long (although half that length is its long, ratty tail) and weighs 10 pounds.
Ratlings have a number of spell-like abilities. They are constantly able to detect and read magic, speak with rodents, and climb the walls like a spider. In addition, they can turn invisible, teleport short distances, cause enemies to flee in fear, and summon swarms of rats.
They can also use any magical scrolls, as if the spell were on their spell list.
Ratlings are carnivores. While they can subsist on prey less able to defend itself, such as grubs, other rodents, and carrion, they much prefer the warm flesh of living food. Children are their preferred meals, not only because such targets are easier to catch and generally safe to chase, but also because the sadistic ratling enjoys the purer sense of fear a screaming child might offer as dinnertime entertainment. The elderly and infirm are also common targets, both because of their lessened ability to defend themselves and simply because older victims are often in high supply in the places ratlings prefer to dwell.
A ratling can (and often does) mate with normal rats. If the ratling parent is male, the products of such disturbing unions are large and particularly aggressive rats (often with vestigial humanlike features or other sickening deformities). If the ratling parent is female, she will spawn a litter of a dozen or so young, including one infant ratling, with the remainder being horribly deformed rats. The stronger and deadlier infant ratling generally feeds upon its brothers and sisters. At the very least, it dismembers them and arranges the torn limbs and entrails in strange patterns, as its not-yet fully-developed sense of the occult and more heinous magical traditions compels it to enact proto-rituals out of necromantic curiosity.
Ratlings understand that most larger creatures present a significant danger. In combat, they generally do not remain around long enough for most fights to last more than a round or two. A ratling’s preferred tactic is to become invisible, scuttle out to bite a target to gain the advantage of its sneak attack, then scurry away to a safe vantage point so it can, hopefully, watch its bitten victim bleed to death from its wounds.
Ratlings have evasion and are immune to poison and disease.
Ratlings are far smarter than typical rats. On average, their intellect exceeds that of a typical human. As such, ratlings prefer to dwell in areas where their constant thirst for knowledge and boundless curiosity can continuously be quenched. Universities, wizards’ guilds, libraries, and the like are the favorite haunts of ratlings. Old manors of families with long traditions of scholastic pursuit are even greater catches, for here, ratlings do not have to contest with increased levels of traffic or interruption. They often pilfer scrolls and books to quench their thirst for knowledge, just as they chase children to quench their thirst for blood.
A ratling generally enjoys the company of normal rats. In most cases, the creature is a loner among its own kind, but ratling conclaves are well-documented in the basements and attics of certain particularly old and large repositories of knowledge. These gatherings of ratlings often ape the structure of a typical university, with a group led by the most knowledgeable among the conclave, who serves to direct the “studies” of the younger members of the group. These elder ratlings often demand forays into the structure itself, scavenging missions to gather up books and scrolls for further study, but the conclaves are always careful to limit these stolen texts to ones that they observe as having been forgotten or generally unused. Ratlings know that humanoids are dangerous foes, and the longer a ratling conclave can hide its presence in an active building, the better.
Ratling elders often advance as clerics, oracles, witches, or wizards; they rarely gain levels as non-spellcasting classes (although some have been known to take on rogue levels—particularly those who dwell alongside thieves’ guilds or among wererats). Ratlings who take witch or wizard levels and have a familiar most often choose rats—an association that often brings with it more than mere supernatural companionship. Although ratlings are capable of gaining improved familiars, they can never select another ratling as a familiar.
Ratlings can sneak attack, and their bite does bleed damage.
Round One Laura (moved), Mashiki (cast mage armor), Alico (moved and cast cause fear), John (missed), Miniel (up), Ratlings (not yet up), Xander (not yet up)
Red- frightened for 4 rounds
"Ratlings! Watch the bite. They can turn invisible and use scrolls, too!" Miniel isn't sure where all this knowledge floods back to her from, but she knows these creatures are dangerous, so there's no time to dwell on that. The elf moves forward into the room, firing her bow at one of the ratlings, but the bookshelf blocks her view at the last moment.
+ (free for kn checks)=20
"These things are terrible." John declares as he examines the little anthropomorphic rats closer.
and that's without anyone telling him any nasty details about their mating practices.
Laura/Rope glowers at them and hopes to knock one off of a ladder.
The nearest ratling has a look of pure fright on its face, and it vanishes with a wave of its arms and a faint POP. You hear scrambling on the lower part of the bookshelf that slowly fades, as if the creature has fled down into the bowels of the shelf itself.
Two of the remaining rats, the ones on the shelves that edge the room, rush forward, and throws massive books down at Miniel and Laura, but both miss badly, sending dust and scraps of paper flying into the air to gently float down.
The other two ratlings, atop the northernmost shelf, are locked in concentration as they cast some sort of sorcery.
Round One Laura (moved), Mashiki (cast mage armor), Alico (moved and cast cause fear), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Ratlings (fled in fear; threw books; summoned swarms), Xander (up)
Round Two Laura (up), Mashiki (up), Alico (up), John (up), Miniel (up), Ratlings (not yet up), Xander (not yet up)
Red- frightened for 3 rounds
"Who taught rats to cast magic spells!" John exclaims as he shoots at one of the casters.
Miniel tries to focus as she shoots back at the ratling that threw a book at her, but she's too slow.
John and Miniel both miss their shots.
Round One Laura (moved), Mashiki (cast mage armor), Alico (moved and cast cause fear), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Ratlings (fled in fear; threw books; summoned swarms), Xander (up)
Round Two Laura (up), Mashiki (up), Alico (up), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Ratlings (not yet up), Xander (not yet up)
Red- frightened for 3 rounds
Harrow, brandishing his sickle, scrambles up the ladder next to yellow and swings at it. "Come down from there, you little brat!"
However, the awkward angle made striking the beastie quite the chore.
Laura/Rope lumbers slowly in her heavy armor to the ladder on the far side of the room, exactly forty feet away.
Pouch rushes into the room, hoping he can distract the spell-casting rats. Or maybe just get out the other side.
Alico moves over and targets one of the ratlings with his daze spell, but it seems to have no effect whatsoever.
Round One Laura (moved), Mashiki (cast mage armor), Alico (moved and cast cause fear), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Ratlings (fled in fear; threw books; summoned swarms), Xander (tried to cast daze)
Round Two Laura (double moved), Alico (missed), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Mashiki (up), Ratlings (not yet up), Xander (not yet up)
Red- frightened for 3 rounds
Feeling safer wrapped in the mystical armour, Broom moved up beside Torch. "Hey, its not nice to throw books at people! Or eat them for that matter." she shouts up to the ratling.
As she pools the viscous black liquid in her hand she ponders "We wonder what We would taste like?". She casually flings the corrosive liquid at the rat thing.
The one ratling shouts something back at Mashiki, before he chucks a large tome at her.
"I don't speak Stupid, try a civilized language. Or better yet, get out of our academy!"
The one nearest Alico takes a step back, and then with a cackling laugh disappears with another POP like before, only to reappear on the opposite shelves.
The two that had been casting spells complete their ritual, and suddenly, with a squeaking cacophany, two rat swarms are conjured up, one rushing over Laura, and the other swarming Mashiki and Miniel.
Then the two spellcasting rats try another piece of magic, this time targeting Alico and Xander.
Round One Laura (moved), Mashiki (cast mage armor), Alico (moved and cast cause fear), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Ratlings (fled in fear; threw books; summoned swarms), Xander (tried to cast daze)
Round Two Laura (double moved), Alico (missed), John (missed), Miniel (missed), Mashiki (missed), Ratlings (did ratling stuff), Xander (up)
Round Three Laura (up), Alico (up), John (up), Miniel (up), Mashiki (up), Ratlings (not yet up), Xander (not yet up)
Red- frightened for 2 rounds; used 1 DD
Yellow- used 1 DD
Blue- used SS, used CF
Orange- used SS, used CF
John shoots at the talking rat.